Egyptian actor Hussein Fahmi preferred to leave the cinema and head for the TV as he is currently shooting his role as Rifa’t Hammad, the businessman who is committed to values and principles in the series al Kharif Lan Yaati Abadan (Autumn will Never Come).

“With this role I try to change the image of the Egyptian businessman which has been defamed by many artworks which depicted him as a fraudulent, bank robber or a bribed person,” Fahmi told the daily al Gomhuria.

He added, “without the help extended by the businessmen, Cairo International Film Festival wouldn’t have come out in its form over the past three years.” He indicated that the ministry of culture allocated 200,000 pounds only for the festival, which is not sufficient to spend on the festival, its films and guests.

About the Egyptian cinema, Fahmi said, “the real reason behind its collapse has been the provision of a very special type of films to a very special audience. “Who imagined Shaaban Abdel Rahim would star in three films? It is true that there are elite audiences who are theater and opera goers but the case with the cinema is different as its audience are between 13-20 and who do not go to see my films,” Fahmi elucidated.

“We are an unlucky generation as far as the cinema is concerned under the current circumstances in which the video and TV have the upper hand. Our studios in the fifties and sixties were a carbon copy of Hollywood studios. But the difference now is great due to the gap in capabilities and technology. We are stagnant in our place but they have invaded the whole world with their films. In general the decline is not limited to the cinema alone but it involves also the song and art,” said Fahmi -- Albawaba.com